just got a chimney starter and i have been having trouble with it.

i have tried a few things, different amounts of paper, cooking oil on the paper, different types of charcoal.... the bottom layer lights fine, but they just don't seem to light the coals above them, and i never get the roaring hot chimney effect taht i've seen other people get. i let it sit for a while and when i dump the coals, the bottom layer is all ash, the middle is ok, and the top isn't even lit.

any ideas?